Rock the vote!

Election day is upon us, so--whatever your political affiliation-- don't forget to exercise your right to vote!

I will be working the polls at the elementary school where I teach for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon. I will be campaigning on behalf of Board of Education candidates and against a Tax Referenda question on the ballot. I typically don't do this because I don't happen to live in the county where I teach and I've always felt that it would be somewhat hypocritical for me to campaign on tax issues when I don't pay tax in that jurisdiction. This year, things are a little different. There are a lot of new voters who have recently registered and they may not be very savvy on local government affairs. Unfortunately, I've seen first hand how some of these property tax limiting legislation can totally ruin a school system. I began my teaching career in another neighboring county which passed such legislation. After six years of teaching I, along with about 500 others, got laid off. To make things worse, this happened just after DH and I had bought our house with the 18% mortgage interest rate! Can you tell that was in the early 80's? Hard to believe we paid rates like that, but we did. It was a scary time because it was a time of teacher gluts unlike now when we have a national teacher shortage. Things got pretty bad--so much so that we almost lost our house. But looking outside of my own little world--the school system went straight down the crapper! By the time they laid us off, they had been in a 5 year decline due to lack of funding. It literally got to the point where parents were stealing reams of paper from their government jobs to bring to the teachers to use at school because we just didn't have any. Things continued to get worse and my friends who remained in that school system told me that getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. What does that tell you!

I'll never understand how American citizens don't make the connection between taxes and public services. They scream for lower taxes but they don't want cuts in services. And those of us who provide some of the services perpetuate the problem by continuing to do what we do--including hours and hours of unpaid overtime--because we care for the kids. If we decide that we can't continue to provide the same level of service when our pay is cut or we lose benefits, we are made into the bad guy!

Dear Government--Taxes are bad. Please lower our taxes. And while you're at it, please find us jobs, provide us with health insurance, bail out our sub prime mortgage and give us grants so that our kids can go to college. That is the bill of goods that people will buy. There is just no logic in it. Now I don't love paying taxes, but I understand the necessity and I understand that when the money is used wisely, it can make our society better. Other democracies pay much higher percentages of taxes--but then they get health insurance, retirement, child care, college education etc. etc. Wow! You can't tell me that the standard of living in such a place isn't better for everyone!

Here's to hope!


I'm planning on bringing my ongoing Petal Edge Scarf with me to knit in line at the polls just in case it's a long wait!

Let's hope that tomorrow night we are toasting a victory rather than chugging shots over a defeat! I suspect that it may be Wednesday before we will even know the outcome.

Thankfully, our days are numbered for the following!
Bushism of the day:
"A lot of times in politics you have people look you in the eye and tell you what's not on their mind." --George W. Bush, Sochi, Russia, April 6, 2008

Kitty Cam: Mikey would like to offer a nonpartisan message.


Cosmo, on the other hand, isn't so nonpartisan.

I guess you could call him a Democat!

Rainy Days and Mondays

That's today! It's cold and rainy which is quite surprising! I had heard that it would be in the high 50's which is chilly for this time of year, but I was rather surprised to look outside before 2:00 and see that it was raining! It never made it into the 50's. I remember more years with Halloween being in the high 70's than in the 40's! It's typically quite warm in these parts this time of year. What gives? As a result of the rain, I went straight home after my leadership meeting today. I just didn't care to stop at the grocery store or post office. I just wanted to come home, prop up my feet and fix a cup of Mango Ceylon tea which soothes my soul. I always fix dinner on Sunday so that DH and I have leftovers on Monday. Thus dinner involves fixing a plate and popping it into the microwave!

I'm going to finish my high school hockey game schedule then veg out in front of the TV while working on my Surplice Camisole.

That's really all I have to share today--except, of course, some more Halloween pix!

These are from different years. First we have Ems when she was 4 and me when I was ????


That Sylvester costume has a lot of mileage on it. A former reading teacher at my school and myself would switch that one and the Roadrunner one each year. We would go into the staff lounge, get in the costumes and raid the classrooms making the kids give us candy. We wouldn't talk--we'd just gesture. The kids never knew who was in the costumes. We'd then go and change back into our street clothes and visit the classrooms again as if nothing happened. These days I'm a party pooper. My dress up days are over!

Next we have Bird a few years later. He found a Beetlejuice mask at Sears Surplus. It was one of those that had a tube with a squeeze bulb at the end. When you squeezed the bulb, snakes popped up on top! My task was to make a Beetlejuice suit which I managed to do using a pajama pattern!


Bushism of the day:
"I think that the vice president is a person reflecting a half-glass-full mentality." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

Kitty Cam: From the archives---Where's Cosmo?

Hockey Moms

Wondering what the title of this post means? Well for those who don't know--I am a hockey mom--one, I might add, of major proportions! Both of my kids played--yes, even Ems! I spent every weekend with my car trunk loaded with stinky equipment bags and goalie pads traveling hundreds of miles, often before the sun came up to go to rinks scattered all over the mid atlantic. I frequently lost my voice cheering for my kids' teams--Chesapeake Chiefs, Howard Huskies, Tri City Eagles, Hammond High School. And I still hold the title of the commissioner of the Howard County Scholastic Hockey Association which is my local high school league--one reason I haven't blogged as much lately as I've been finalizing my ice contracts, holding league meetings and creating game schedules for my 11 teams. Why is this important? It's important because in no way, shape or form do I want to be associated with the most well known hockey mom that's been in the news this season. Thus, for my knitting friends, you will notice that my new Ravelry avatar has changed from my red lips picture to this:

With last night being the Caps' home opener, DH and I spent our anniversary going downtown (to DC) to do a little genealogy work at the DAR library in the afternoon, followed by dinner at Capital Q which has the best barbecue in the city. It's a casual place where you get your drinks in cans or bottles and rolls of paper towels sit on the tables. After dinner, we donned our Caps jerseys, went next door to Starbucks and headed over to the Verizon center to take our places in the nosebleed section to enjoy the opening game. I must admit that I was stunned to see the Chicago Blackhawks score 20 seconds into the game! Given that the Caps lost 7 - 4 in Atlanta the previous night, this had me a little concerned. Fortunately they came back and won 4 - 2. I have great hopes for this team after last season. I hope the change in goaltenders wasn't a blunder!

Philly had their home opener last night as well! Guess who dropped the ceremonial puck? Guess who was booed from the audience when doing so? I guess those working class hockey fans in Philly don't see the VP candidate as "one of us."

For more on this story, go here!

This may be a three post day. I have some FO's to share, but I have to photograph them. I finished the bodice of my Surplice Lace Camisole and I've started on the lace section. I have a couple of sewing FO's to share. I'm not fast with my sewing because I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. I love finesse in my sewing so I tend to use couture sewing techniques for seam finishing, lining and other details which add a lot more labor. I'll try to photograph my goodies today.

Other news--I had my hair cut on Friday and had it done much like I did last Dec. I asked her for more copper in the color but it doesn't show as much because it seems darker. I like it though. I think next time I will have it cut shorter in more of a stacked bob.


That's it for now!

Bushism of the day:
"You know, when you give a man more money in his pocket -- in this case, a woman more money in her pocket to expand a business, it -- they build new buildings. And when somebody builds a new building somebody has got to come and build the building. And when the building expanded it prevented additional opportunities for people to work." --George W. Bush, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

Kitty Cam: Ems' new kitty, Chelsea, loves to get into things and she also loves to play with Cosmo!

Things happen in threes!

Three posts in a day for me! I decided to break up what would be a really long post into three parts. Be sure to check out the previous two!

It's been a busy week. I'm finding school to be a little difficult in some ways this year. I dislike my schedule in that I have lunch at 10:45 a.m. There is one advantage to that however. I've been losing weight. I eat a filling breakfast of a high fiber, high protein cereal with soy milk and juice right before I leave the house in the morning around 7:30. I'm just not that hungry at lunch time when it is so early. I end up eating just a small salad or a low calorie frozen entree which is typically less than I would eat. I have a little break an hour later so then I have a little bit of veggies--usually a snack size bag of cherry tomatoes or pepper strips. That tides me over until my last class. If I'm still hungry, then I'll have a lowfat string cheese that I always have on hand in my little fridge. Everyday on my ride home I have my cup of fresh berries. Berries to me are like candy. I just can't get enough of them. I always have blueberries and sometimes I mix them with raspberries or blackberries. I will also admit to having a small square of dark chocolate sometime in the afternoon. I guess my whacky schedule is making me eat healthier so all is not lost.

We had back to school night this week which kept me out late on Tuesday. I've been pretty much glued to the news this week. This financial mess has me rather worried. I fear that my rather meager retirement account may be in some jeopardy. I also worry about the ability to get credit--not for me, but mainly for Bird. He has a large amount of private student loans and we are hoping that he can consolidate them. The only way that he can get a halfway decent interest rate is if DH cosigns for it. That is a little scary in that if Bird can't get a decent job, then we will be responsible. I just don't want Bird to have to pay 18% on a large loan. We'll see how it all plays out. It's funny how one views money when they are, as my mother used to say, nearer the grave than the cradle. I look around and see that I've wasted a lot of money over the years on stuff--stuff that I don't need and stuff that I will never use. I've gotten much better about not buying things impulsively. I have bought some yarn for winter projects (more on that later) and some dvd's and that's about it. I've decided that I need to make a dent in my rather huge fabric stash so my future sewing projects will be stash projects. It's fun to go through my containers of fabric. I always come across stuff that I had totally forgotten about. My taste hasn't changed so I always love the fabric I have. I just often end up changing the pattern that I will use.

I was going through my container of fine silks and came across this:

This is a lace print silk charmeuse that I got on clearance at, of all places, Joann's. They must have gotten it from another store because I had never seen silk charmeuse there. I bought this a couple of years ago and got the beige china silk lining at G-Street. I also bought some of this fabric in a purple on lavender color for Ems. I'm going to bag up the fabrics I have for her and give them to her since she wants to start sewing more. Anyway I had this fabric with the zipper and pattern stored in a ziploc bag which is what I've done with all my sewing projects. Here is the pattern which is now out of print:

I am making view A which is in the bottom left hand corner. I think it will look smashing with my black jeans. It will also be nice with a black dressy skirt. It was like going fabric shopping as I had totally forgotten about it!

I've been watching dvd's while I've been sewing. We haven't run the cable line to my little dvd/tv. I watched the entire series of Sex and the City and now I am on this:

I already watched season 1 which I got for Christmas a few years ago. I had actually seen season 1 when it aired on HBO. I missed some seasons in the middle. I was able to pick up seasons 2,3 and 4 on Ebay for cheap. I still need to get season 5. After this series will come Allie McBeal. I got into that rather late when it aired--only seeing the last season or two. The series dvd's are not produced in the US as there are some copyright issues with the music. They can be obtained in a region free format from Asia--go figure! That show just wouldn't be the same without the music.

I am still plugging away at Surplice Camisole and I finished one side of the bodice front. There was an error in the pattern but it still looks okay. Here is the yarn that I mentioned above:

This is Malabrigo silk which will be used for Silken Scabbard. I have one more yarn purchase then I will be set for the winter. I am getting some Malabrigo worsted off of Ebay for the Dirndl Raglan.

Our latest home improvement project is this:

New front steps! Our porch has been a wreck this past week. We had to tear off the railing and some of the planking in front. The old concrete steps, which were cracked in the middle and a bit sunken, were torn up. Also the stone support on the right of the photo was completely taken apart. We had new foundation poured for the support and it was put back together then we got new steps. We still have to put up the wood part of the support as part of it was rotten and has to be made. DH hopes to tear out the wood floor and railing and rebuild it. We had done this some years ago using decking which is not what the original was. We need to use tongue and groove flooring which will be painted. We will also get white railing. It will look nice when it's finished. After this is done, I think we should wait on any other major home projects.

It's been raining today so I haven't even gotten dressed! I have no desire to run errands in the rain. I have plenty of espresso and soy milk, so with the ability to make an endless amount of lattes, I will stay in today. I love days like this!

I will leave you with a picture of the lovely roses I found at Trader Joes:


Bushism of the day:
"And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

WoW! I wonder why there's distrust! If the revelations of the last two weeks don't explain that, nothing can!

Kitty Cam: Another one from Ems. Chelsea found a new toy--Cosmo's tail!

Getting there!

I've been working on my dress this week. Monday night I stitched the fitting shell and cut out the fabric. Tuesday night I cut out the lining. Last night, I sewed the body of the dress together, basted the pleats and tried it on. It fits perfectly. It really pays to make a muslin. It certainly beats ripping out the $60 a yard fabric! The fabric is a polyester brocade with a herringbone background by Dana Buchman. I was apprehensive about using polyester. I tend to hate synthetics. This stuff handles like a dream and the pleats press in really well which I didn't expect. I guess you get what you pay for! Of course, I took a fairly easy dress and complicated things. I decided to line it. I just can't see getting designer fabric then skimping on the construction. Tonight, I am stitching the lining and setting in the sleeves then tomorrow night I will hem it. I always line with Ambiance bemberg rayon. It has a really silky feeling against the skin. I will post photos of the dress when it is completed!

The SKC knit along has been decided. It will be a double with Bella Paquita and Giselle, both designed by Marnie Maclean. I had bought the yarn for Bella Paquita before--a new yarn by Elann called Incense which is 50% merino, 25% silk, 25% bamboo. I'm not so motivated to start that one yet. The whole thing is graphed and I just don't feel like dealing with that.


I love Giselle though and I want to make that when I've finished the baby set. I ordered some Handmaiden Double Sea Silk for this one. This is a new yarn and is the DK weight of the famous Sea Silk. Both yarns are 70% silk, 30% Seacell. I am making the shorter sweater with the crochet trim, using periwinkle Double Sea Silk and doing the crochet trim in ebony Sea Silk which is fingering weight. This yarn is stunning! It is really soft and has an incredible sheen. It doesn't seem to have that sticky feeling that silk typically has. Simply beautiful stuff!


That's really it for now. I have to get to my dress! More updates later!

Bushism of the day:
"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific." —George W. Bush, who apparently forgot about a little something called World War II, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002

Kitty Cam: From the archives--Cosmo takes time out from his world of high fashion to go to a masquerade party!